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Alsaphot
Alsaphot is a French company that produced various camera models from 1949 to 1970. Alsaphot history of the Fex-Indo website (web archive dated Oct 12, 2004). It was a dependent of the company Société Alsacienne d'Etudes et d'Exploitation (or Alsetex), which still exists today (2006) as "SAE Alsetex". Relationship with Alsetex: Alsaphot history of the Fex-Indo website (web archive dated Oct 12, 2004). See Alsetex's current presentation page. Its full name is said to be "Société Alsacienne d'Optique et de Photographie" Alsaphot page of Gérard Langlois' site. (meaning "Alsatian Society of Optics and Photography"), and the logo of the society is a stork holding an ALSAPHOT pennant in its beak, the stork being a symbol of Alsace (a French region). However the addresses appearing in Alsaphot advertisements are located in Paris, and one of the company's factories was in Angers. See the advertisements in the Alsaphot page at Photoptic for the Paris addresses: 177, rue de Courcelles (17e) in 1951, 63, avenue de Villiers (17e) in 1954, and 7, rue du Général Foy (8e). The three are very close together. Angers factory: Alsaphot site of Jacques Labarre, and Cyclope page of the Fex-Indo website (web archive dated Oct 12, 2004). The company produced some inexpensive medium format models, like the Dauphin pseudo TLR and the D'Assas 6×6 viewfinder camera, but it also developed three advanced and original models: the Bioflex TLR, the Cyclope 6×9 camera with folded light path, and the Alsaflex, a 24×24 SLR camera that did not go into production. It also took over the production of the Memox 24×24 camera from the SIAP company, and derived a 24×36 model. After these interesting cameras, the company made a series of unremarkable 35mm viewfinder cameras called the Maine before stopping camera production. Alsaphot also sold the Soretex microfilm reader. Soretex seems to be the name of another company, that produced lifts in the Angers factory after camera production stopped, and became Thyssen Ascenseurs in 1994. Microfilm reader: advertisements in the Alsaphot page at Photoptic. Lifts: Alsaphot site of Jacques Labarre and history page of ThyssenKrupp Ascenseurs. 120 film 4.5×6 viewfinder * Cima 6×6 viewfinder * Ajax * Cady * D'Assas * D'Assas-Lux * D'Assas 3 * D'Assas Norlin * SIAP 6×6 TLR * Bioflex 6×6 pseudo TLR * Dauphin I, IA, II, III 6×9 viewfinder * Cyclope 35mm film 24×24 SLR * Alsaflex 24×24 viewfinder * Memox 24×24 24×36 viewfinder * Memox 24×36 * Doubs * Maine * Maine Is * Maine IIc * Maine IIIa * Siap Memo Accessories Alsaphot made an auxiliary rangefinder called Major 2. Attribution to Alsaphot confirmed by this post in Roland Weber's Foca forum. Notes Bibliography * Pp.86–90. Links In French: * Site about Alsaphot by Jacques Labarre * Alsaphot page on Sylvain Halgand's www.collection-appareils.fr * Alsaphot page at Gérard Langlois' site * Alsaphot page at Collection G. Even's site * Alsaphot page at ClicClac (Jacques Charrat's collection) * Major 2 auxiliary rangefinder in Krg's website * Major 2 auxiliary rangefinder in Roland Weber's Foca site * Alsaphot cameras timeline at www.collection-appareils.com Category: Camera makers * Category: France